Millions of people around the world, including Australians, are tattooed with chemical products of unknown specification, purity and sterility.

Cheap inks bought on the internet have unknown ingredients and can produce unknown long-term effects.

If imperfectly cleaned equipment is used, there is a risk of infection. The worry is being infected with a blood-borne virus such as HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

Some people have an allergic reaction to pigment, particularly the reds. Danish dermatologist and tattoo expert Jørgen Serup says allergic reactions to red are the most common of all adverse reactions to tattoos.

These allergies can be so serious people need to have the tattoo surgically removed.

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Others may develop granulomas – small bumps that form in the tattoos – around particles of pigment the body perceives as foreign.

Another concern is that dark inks might obscure skin cancers that form within the tattoo.

The worry is that a melanoma that might otherwise have a chance of being noticed might not be seen.

A rare complication is experiencing swelling or burning in the tattoo while having a MRI scan.

Cancer Council Australia wants more research into the inks and whether they could be substituted with safer plant-based dyes.

Professional tattooists are concerned about the negative impact of amateurs in the business. Patsy Farrow, national secretary of the Professional Tattooing Association of Australia, says while professionals use reputable suppliers and have high standards of hygiene, “backyarders" and other unscrupulous operators use low-cost products from the internet and are less concerned with cleanliness and infection control.

As a tattooist of 40 years, she has seen the social stigma of tattooing begin to lift and more people being drawn to it.

There are no reliable statistics about tattooing in Australia, but Ben McGill, editor of Tattoos Downunder magazine, says the demographic of the tattoo community is broadening.

Once a subculture with unsavoury overtones, the community is becoming more mainstream, with tattoos displayed openly by athletes, on billboards and on television.